Star Gate

New Martial was New Martial. A Silver Moon one hundred thousand years later was a completely different entity. It was a new age separate from New Martial and citizens of the latter felt absolutely no affinity with it. Whether Silver Moon denizens wished to walk a new dao or inherit New Martial’s heritage… they could do whatever they wished.

Even the Human King wouldn’t mind it too much if he was here. So long as Silver Moon denizens didn’t look to invade New Martial, they could do whatever they wanted. He looked after only New Martial citizens—the people who once fought together to create an era.

When it came to the new generations after New Martial, the Human King advocated peace. He didn’t grace them with special treatment as, in his words, what did it matter to him what happened in the world after he and his friends died?

If there was a new emperor, then it was the new emperor’s duty to safeguard the people. He didn’t give a damn about the newcomers so long as they didn’t get in his way.

Yuan Shuo chuckled and set the topic aside. The group probed further into the passageway. Moments later, the Black Armor stopped, as did everyone else.

“I wonder which friend is it that has come,” an aloof voice rang through the air. “Your presence is surprising—how were you able to enter this part of the mine?”

The Black Armor regarded the voice gravely and revealed himself.

Yuan Shuo felt the world spin around him as the group appeared in an empty clearing. No one expected such a spacious lot at the heart of the mine! As opposed to the scarlet shadow, his eyes first snapped to the massive lake instead.

The Black Armor also saw what was within, but didn’t say a word.

“How dare you!” Director General Wang ground his teeth when he looked at the body hovering over the lake. “You used the treasures of the Skystar mine to form the body of an Empyrean King for your own use. Who are you?!”

A tremor ran through the three plant spirits when they heard the denouncement. The body of an Empyrean King! An… an Empyrean King was the next level after Saint!

During the peak of Silver Moon Territory, even the city lords of the eight main cities were but peak Saints. Only visiting powerhouses, the Sword Sovereign overseeing the planet, and the principal of Evenround Martial were exceptions.

No one knew if anyone on the planet eventually became an Empyrean King. But now, someone had borrowed the great mine to form the body of an Empyrean King! Were they planning on reaching the next cultivation level this way?

The consequences would be inconceivable if an Empyrean King appeared in this weak age! They would have no problem dominating the world. Not even a few Saints jointly withstanding one would have any effect.

“He hasn’t done this on purpose,” identified the Black Armor after studying the shadow. “He was injured by someone and had no choice but to undertake this course of action. He should be one of the powerhouses that attacked Skystar Town back in the day, but was injured by Jiang Yu of Skystar Town. He had no choice but to remain here and recover from his wounds. After the world was sealed away and core origin vanished, this spot worked well to his benefit.

“You have a keen eye!” The scarlet shadow took humanoid form and looked at the Black Armor. “Jiang Yu did indeed damage my core origin and even left indelible injuries. The dense energy within the mine is sufficient for my recovery.

“But when it comes to you… I am not too familiar with you. I recognize Wang Ye, but you are… from Evenround Martial University?”

“You don’t know me? Now that’s interesting,” chuckled the Black Armor. “All of the premier existences at the eight main cities should know me. It looks like you didn’t occupy a lofty position among the main cities then.”

“True enough,” laughed the shadow. “I am but an insignificant speck of dust compared to the rest of you. But that was then, and this is now.”

“There is no difference now either.” The Black Armor continued staring at him. “You may have changed your face and name, but your core origin remains silent and you act furtively even now. It looks like there should still be people who recognize you!

“Additionally, Vice Commander Sun Xin looks to have truly betrayed New Martial. What a pity, I thought that someone from the army had survived to stand at their posts and protect the mine! You guys should’ve been part of the same group back in the day. I am curious of one thing—what gave you the boldness to rebel against New Martial?”

“You can ask that question in hell!” smiled the scarlet shadow. The world spun around them again and they seemed to revert to Primordial Era!

“Someone from Initial Martial?” The Black Armor jerked with surprise. “A mental domain?”

Indeed, the world seemed to have turned into a world of chaos from the time.

“It is if you think it is,” sniffed the scarlet shadow. “I am curious about one thing as well. The void in the outside world is unstable. How did you enter the mine? You might be able to suffer less if you tell me!”

“Suffer less?” laughed the Black Armor. “I’d lost all hope, but now I see a rat like you eking out survival. Well then… if someone like you can live, why not me?”

An opening split the sky as a long blade hovered between the world. None of the others saw anything when it swung down—they simply found that chaos split apart. The Black Armor disappeared in a flash of light and transformed into an elegant young man with an extraordinary bearing!

All seemed to be as it was in the past. In fine fettle, the young man brandished the long sword. White teeth gleamed when red lips stretched in a smile, casting him in a more feminine light. However, the blade he wielded clashed with that image.

“The monkeys come out to play when the tiger is away from the mountain!” He smiled at the scarlet shadow. “I once saw the Human King sweep through the world, yet he was not half as arrogant as you. I saw my grandfather disseminate dao throughout the world, and neither was he as supercilious as you!

“How dare you speak so wildly, rat!”

The blade descended, splitting the firmament and crushing chaos! Yuan Shuo and the rest watched with open mouths. The old man suddenly wanted to yank Li Hao out of the secondary dimension so he could see what a true clash of powerhouses looked like!

Boom!

The scarlet shadow grew thousands of times bigger in the void, like it was a giant shaping the world. It raised a massive ax and chuckled, “Perhaps… I do know who you are, but that was then. You are just a broken Saint now, so throw everything you’ve got at me!”

The Worldcarver Ax swung down, reducing the world to chaos again.

“You certainly like to talk big!” laughed the Black Armor. He, too, destroyed the world with a swing of his blade. A book of dao appeared in his hand—the world spun when he opened it. The sun and moon appeared, as did thousands of stars sparkle.

Whether it was Director General Wang or the plant spirits, all swallowed hard at the sight. This was a book of great dao!

BOOM!

Chaos transformed into a world; light blossomed in the darkness. The scarlet shadow grunted with pain as the young man grasped at the air, fashioning chaos qi into a blood-red longbow. He pulled back on the bow and fired an arrow!

The firmament ripped apart!

A spear then appeared in his hand and tore through the world, smashing it apart once more. Cracks had appeared on the towering giant and red liquid dripped from them.

“Hmph!” The giant punched with a cold snort. “As expected of a descendant of a premier heavyweight, you have quite a few exalted emperor techniques to draw from! But you possess such a motley array of skills, it’s no wonder that you weren’t as well known as your younger sister.

“At least your sister made it to peak Empyrean King, but you didn’t even set foot into Empyrean King. You bit off more than you could chew. One exalted emperor’s techniques is sufficient for an entire lifetime, but you learned so many of them!”

He learned too many of them, and they were all abilities from exalted emperors. The blood-red longbow was the Exalted Blood Emperor’s, the spear ripped through the air was the Exalted Broken Will Emperor’s, the book of great dao was Supreme Zhang’s, and the blade method was possibly the Human King’s…

There were too many techniques in play! Each of them would make the Black Armor a supreme existence among his peers, but after learning so many, how would he have the concentration to dedicate to advancement?

The feminine young man laughed softly. “That’s true. My father once yelled at me and my grandfather said I should not conduct myself in such a manner. The principal also said that I should not imitate her. Although she also possesses a random assortment of knowledge, she can go to the Green Emperor and have him refine it all. I cannot…

“So I went to school and became a teacher! What a pity that you bastards don’t give me sufficient time… Damn you!”

The scarlet shadow split apart once more when he swung his blade. It grunted with pain again!

Light bloomed in the world as a golden giant materialized. Wang Ye’s face tightened with apprehension.

The scarlet shadow was no match for the Black Armor, but it’d nurtured an overpowering physical body after so many years. The body had absorbed almost all of the essence in the mine. By now, the scarlet shadow knew that it was no match for the young man with an illustrious background, so it brought out the unfinished body to do battle with.

The world was filled with aureate light when the body appeared!

“You should not have been able to come here before the world has awakened,” the scarlet shadow said with some annoyance. “Only when my physical body is perfected and the remains of the mine detonated to release it will the second awakening take place. I’m very curious, how did you get in here?!”

It raged with an unwillingness to accept the situation! Things should not be thus! According to the plan, it would successfully build the physical body and ascend to Empyrean King. When the mine exploded, it would emerge in the world as an Empyrean King and quickly dominate the four corners. After the remnants of the eight main cities were defeated, it could swiftly complete the rest of the plan.

But now… a Saint had come, and an exceedingly strong Saint at that.

One had to know that it wouldn’t be concerned even if both of those guys fighting outside entered the mine. It would deploy the body ahead of time! But now, it had no choice but to do so.

Although the Black Armor’s learning was too scattered, one had to take note of what the Black Armor knew. Every battle method was from an exalted emperor, which meant that his motley assortment of knowledge was incredibly powerful.